Santa Maria in Campitelli is located over the former site of the
Temple of Jupiter Stator, part of the
Porticus Octaviae until the area's destruction in the
Great Fire of Rome in the mid-1st century. The
Temple of Juno Regina was located nearby. Tradition holds that a primitive oratory or church was founded at the site during the years 523–526, under the papacy of
Pope John I. This structure was located near the
Porticus Octaviae (giving the church and icon its name of "Madonna of the Portico"). The structure was created to house a venerated 25 cm-high
icon of the Virgin Mary and Saints Peter and Paul. According to legend, the icon appeared miraculously in 524 at the table of
Galla, a Roman woman who was helping the poor, and it was said to be carried in processions since 590. The initial church structure was the no longer extant Oratory of Santa Galla, located across the piazza from the present church, and which was attached to a hospital of the same name. More recent analysis of the style and
dendrochronology of the icon date it to the 11th century. The image is very likely a reproduction of some ancient painting or mosaic venerated in the Galla portico. Circa 1656, the city of Rome was ravaged by plague, and it was felt that the prayers to this icon, which had been carried in procession through the streets, had played a role in stopping the epidemic. This putative miraculous intervention prompted
Pope Alexander VII to erect a grander church, instead of the ancient oratory, to house the icon. He commissioned the high
Baroque design from
Carlo Rainaldi, and construction took place between 1659 and 1667. The church was kept under the maintenance by the order of
Clerics Regular of the Mother of God, that had been founded in
Lucca. Rainaldi's facade has a complex stacking of two levels of
travertine Corinthian (below) and composite columns, detached from the facade, and emphasizing a strong vertical lines. The original design included statues which were however never executed. The portal has an inscription offering
plenary indulgence daily to the living and dead. Santa Maria in Portico is a
diaconate; it has as its current
Cardinal-Deacon Michael Louis Fitzgerald. To the left of the facade is a fountain by
Giacomo della Porta. The Church was a location for the 2021 movie
House of Gucci for the scene of the wedding of Patrizia (Lady Gaga) and Maurizio (Adam Driver). ==Interior==